Monthly Archives:July 2008

On Monday, we had every intention on going to the Moscow Aquatic Center, but never made it there. We were walking home from a friend’s house and I was pushing Novalie’s bike up the hill and I was not paying attention to where I was walking. My foot got caught in a little opening of the cattle guard we have in our drive way. As a result of that, I have a chunk of skin missing right below my ankle. Ouch, yes, mega ouch. I told Novalie I would take her, but I couldn’t get in the water and that didn’t sound like any fun to her, so we stayed home and she had fun playing in the sprinkler’s while I rested my foot.

I am writing this for my own memory to share with Novalie someday, however, I am certain that we will never forget Baby Monster. And who knows, she might live with us forever.

When Novalie was 2, Baby Monster joined our family. She has been a member for 3 whole years. Who is Baby Monster? Novalie’s imaginary friend. About 1 1/2 years ago, Baby Monster’s friend, Emily, moved in with us as well. When Baby Monster first joined our home, she went everywhere with us. I would put Novalie in the car and shut the door and Novalie would instantly cry out that I shut the door on Baby Monster. So, I had to open the door, let Baby Monster get in, take Novalie out of her car seat, let her buckle Baby Monster in her buckle and then put Novalie back in her seat. When we went to the grocery store, we had to leave room in the cart for Baby Monster to sit. At night, Baby Monster had her spot in Novalie’s bed. I remember one time when Novalie was 3 and she was watching a cartoon and I sat down on the couch to watch with her and as soon as I sat down, Novalie start crying loudly. I had sat on Baby Monster. My bad, I had to sit on the floor, as I couldn’t take Baby Monster’s spot. I asked Novalie why Baby Monster lived with us and she said because her parents died and went to heaven. As time has gone on, Baby Monster has gotten more and more independent and seems to do her own thing. She very seldom goes places with us anymore. Just last week, she was staying in a hotel with Emily. I asked Novalie why they were staying in a hotel. She told me, “because they just went to the circus.” She doesn’t even have to think about it. She knows where they are and what they are doing at all times. Whenever Novalie wakes up from a nap in the car, she goes on for a good 15 minutes about Baby Monster and Emily and what they have been doing. Does she dream about them? They are really real to Novalie. It is very fascinating to me.

Just so you don’t worry about them, they are back safe from the circus and sleeping soundly on Novalie’s floor.

If you haven’t seen Wall-e yet, go now! It is so, so, so cute! I think anyone of any age would enjoy this movie. My favorite part was the beginning when Wall-e was just cruisin around doing his thing. He is so adorable! I love Wall-e. I think Kevin is okay with the fact that I have a crush on a robot. Novalie was so concerned about Wall-e’s pet bug the whole movie. We kept telling her that he was safe and Wall-e would go back and find his pet bug. Thank goodness he did or we would have had a broke hearted little girl!

I have spent a lot -I mean A LOT- of time this week playing Littlest Pet Shop Go Fish game. Novalie got it for her birthday from my sister and I forgot about it until a week ago and we got it out and played it. And played it and played it and played it all week long. I am not complaining about playing it, I rather enjoy playing it with Novalie, but I just wanted to get across how much we have played it. I couldn’t even count the times if I tried. It reminds me of when Novalie was 3 and we got Candy Land for the first time and we played that game 50 times a day. Novalie is very good at Go Fish. I have yet to beat her, honestly. I am not one to let Novalie win. I never have been. We play fair, by the rules and sometimes she wins and sometimes I win. But, Go Fish I can not beat her. Not one game have I won. Maybe tomorrow. I hope Novalie continues to like playing board games because I love them and it is a special thing we do lots of together. Notice the snacks in the picture? We can’t play games without snacks!

We had another busy week that flew by! Novalie didn’t have any activities this week. June and the first 2 weeks of July were jam packed with activities which she and I both enjoyed, but the rest of the summer we are going to swim and get ready for kindergarten! So, we did just that this week. We went swimming, played with lots of friends, went to several parks, played tennis. Today, Novalie helped me with some yard work and she helped me wash the car. We have just been busy doing fun, typical summer things!

It is no secret that Novalie and I read a lot of books. So, we signed up for the summer reading program at our local little Albion library (and in Pullman too). We read everyday like we normally do, about 1 1/2 hours. So, we filled out our time sheets and handed them in each week to Shannon (the librarian, who is also in our ward and also a great friend). The summer reading program for the Albion library was over today and Shannon had a little celebration at the library. It was time to announce the top reader and give out prizes. And guess who the top reader was? NOVALIE! Way cool. She got a free wristband for the county fair to go on all the rides! Way to go Novalie!

I got another great surprise today. Tamsin is letting me house sit her treadmill until her and David have a place for it again. I am SO excited! I did a quick mile on it tonight for a test run. It felt great! I am going to start strong on Monday. I can’t wait to feel healthy again! Thank you Tamsin!

This turned out kinda long! All because I had to blog about Wall-e! Did I mention that I love him? Go see it!

I wanted a fun filled summer and so far that is what I have gotten. We have been really busy and done a lot of fun things, just like I wanted before Novalie starts kindergarten. (We won’t even talk about that!) Because we have been having a blast, summertime is flying by! We have cut back on the days we spend at the Moscow pool because of the distance and gas prices, but we still make it there about 3 times a week. Novalie has stayed busy though with sport camps, playdates galore, church activities and library activities. Not to mention our family activities. Needless to say, we are having a fantastic summer!

Since Novalie started tennis lessons and we watched Wimbledon, Kevin and I were motivated to play tennis again. So, we have been playing tennis as a family and the old competitive spirit is back between Kevin and I. I told Kevin he can’t chuck his rackets this time around because we can’t afford to replace them like we used to. He throws his rackets and I give him the silent treatment for days. Maybe tennis isn’t healthy for our relationship. We have toned it down a bit for Novalie’s sake. And maybe we have matured a bit since we last played 5 years ago. I still enjoy beating him-badly!

Now for some pictures, the fun part!

Here is Novalie with Frog and Toad from the books by Arnold Lobel. This was a summer reading activity that the library did at the park. It was so fun and way cute!

Novalie at her tennis camp:

Swimming lessons! Doing the back stroke:

I haven’t written about the 4th of July yet, even though it was a couple of weeks ago. We had a really fun 4th of July. My Mom and sister and her 4 boys were here visiting. We went to the Albion parade, which was fun. The kids were on a corner by themselves, so they got tons of candy. My Mom got a hotel room in the hotel right next to the park where the big Pullman fireworks show is. The kids swam at the hotel all afternoon and then we went over to the fireworks show. The band was great, we did some dancing. The kids got to go on the big slide and the jumping castle. Novalie fell asleep and we had to wake her up to see the firework show. Pullman put on an awesome firework show again and after it was over, we didn’t have to deal with the traffic or buses (we did the buses last year), we just walked across the way to the hotel and were asleep before some of those people even left the parking lot. It was great!

Novalie has always loved a party and this year she got to party hard for her birthday. Since she was turning 5, she got to have her first friends birthday party. But, first we celebrated with our family. She was all about Batman this year, so she had a Batman cake. Aunt Tamsin was out of town this year, so we had to order it from the bakery, but they did a fantastic job and it turned out super cute! Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Janell, Uncle David, “old” Grandma, Aunt Danielle and cousins and Mommy and Daddy (of course) were all at her party. Novalie wanted sandwiches for lunch, so she had a big sandwich bar and then presents and cake. Uncle David made Novalie an awesome rocket launcher which was the hit of the party. Here are some pictures:

Novalie wanted her friends birthday party at the park, so that is exactly what she got. She wore her awesome Batgirl costume to her party. She invited 9 friends and her 2 cousins and they all were able to come, so she had the time of her life! They all played on the playground, made a craft, ate cupcakes, opened presents and had some fun with water balloons! Novalie is so blessed with just nice, fantastic friends. It was a great party. Here are some pictures:

Happy Birthday Novalie! I can’t believe you are 5! You are the most fun, energetic, sweet, funny, smart little girl! I am so proud to be your Mommy and I love you! You are SO into superheros, but what I love is that you can be saving the world from bad guys in your dress up high heels! You have the biggest imagination and I love to hear the great stories you come up with. You are also very into dinosaurs and got a lot of cool dinosaurs for your birthday. It was so fantastic to walk into the room and see your dinosaur village with your train tracks running through them. Very cool! You are very athletic and have such a strong body and have had a blast doing all yours sports this summer! You love arts and crafts and there is hardly a day that goes by that we don’t have a project out creating something. And as always, you LOVE to swim! I love being at the pool with you! You love going to church and making up your own words to the hymns and you love Jesus! You are always making sure that Jesus is happy with what you are doing. You have such a sweet spirit! You are my little superhero and I have absolutely loved having you glued to me the last 5 years! Happy Birthday Batgirl! I LOVE YOU!!